Spitballin’ (or Super Pass It To Bulis: All In, if you love adventurous acronymizing) is a feature that allows us to touch on a multitude of things really fast, because in the world of hockey, there are always lots of things to find and colour. Here are a few quick topics.

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Tanner Glass fights his last bear

If you couldn’t tell from our two most recent posts, which might convince a first-timer that PITB is a bad Winnipeg Jets blog, we’re excited for the returns of Tanner Glass and Kyle Wellwood, two Canucks with whom we were and remain somewhat smitten. It’s probably time to retire the Tanner Glass fighting bears feature we nostalgically resurrected (I think it’s been done to death), but let’s go out on a high note. Here’s one more photo, courtesy Bulie SteveB:

The bear appears to be pleading for mercy as Glass gleefully punches him off a cliff.

For the record, anyone who brings a “Glass Fights Bears” sign to Thursday night’s game will receive some hardcore blog-love. This has to happen.

HEY. TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY.

Let’s move on to current Canuck depth players. Here’s Dale Weise and Maxim Lapierre — apparently fresh from a car accident, judging by their cut-up faces — cracking each other up while trying to film what appears to be the awkwardest Canucks for Kids Fund PSA in history. The highlight is Max Lapierre mocking Dale Weise’s unnatural teapot-like stance on the first take, then proving that he’s a much, much better actor with some mimed phone chat and creepy staring.

Alain Vigneault can’t win

Chris Tanev, who has taken Cody Hodgson’s place as the young prospect for whom fans are demanding more icetime, draws back into the lineup Thursday. He’ll play on a pairing with Marc-Andre Gragnani, bumping Aaron Rome to the pressbox, which is what everyone has been clamoring for since Gragnani was acquired.

Unfortunately, this move benches Manitoba native Rome in the first matchup against his hometown team, the Winnipeg Jets. Considering AV explained that Cory Schneider’s start in Boston was in part because he was Massachusetts-born, I’d say this is worth a lip curl. I don’t like it. Rome’s been nothing but accommodating since he arrived in Vancouver and he should have gotten to play tonight.

But it just goes to show that a roster controversy is inevitable no matter who Alain Vigneault dresses. The dude can’t win.

Dale Weise agrees: Dale Weise needs more icetime

I may be the only one who finds this funny, but I laughed out loud when Dale Weise retweeted this tweet from country singer Aaron Pritchett:

Dale Weise’s new strategy for getting back into the lineup: celebrity endorsements. It’s worth a shot.

David Booth is clever

Unfortunately, Weise doesn’t have the power to attract stars that attractive star David Booth has. Booth recently shared this photo, in which he poses with babes. (Okay, Miss USA 2011 Alyssa Campanella and Danielle Doty, Miss Teen USA 2011.) For the record, despite standing between two beauty queens, Booth holds up surprisingly well here. Seriously, I’m a heterosexual guy and I’d still say he’s in the top two.

But the best part of this tweet wasn’t the photo. It was what Booth had to say about it:

That’s just a quality quip, especially since he’s standing between two natural blondes. (And don’t you tell me Campanella’s a redhead just because that’s the colour her hair was when she won the crown. Her natural hair colour is blonde. I Googled her to be sure. That’s right. I Googled her for research. And only research.)

While we’re on the subject of David Booth’s Twitter account, Booth was on the Team 1040 Thursday morning and explained that Cody Hodgson didn’t want him to tweet the Aladdin tweet because he was afraid of how it would make him look. Thank goodness Booth pulled rank, because that was a quality tweet. (Also: who is embarrassed to admit they’re watching Aladdin with friends? Seriously. I’m watching Ella Enchanted right now.)

Booth works out a lot

Speaking of Booth, fans should be encouraged by the fact that the Hodgson for Kassian swap now means that Zack Kassian will be roommates with an obsessive fitness nut who spends so much time working out that the team has asked him to tone it down.

Naturally big-bodied guys like Kassian have a tendency to struggle with their weight and often lose a step as a result (recall two-thirds of the failed Mike Gillis’s Camp Hope, Steve Bernier and Shane O’Brien). But if Kassian is rooming with the most body-conscious member of the team, there’s a good chance Booth’s habits will rub off on him, and that’s good news for the Canucks.

25 comments

CanuckFanInSF

March 8, 2012

Um, regarding the last part of the post… any chance we can see “David Booth Scores Goals, Has Abs”? as a PITB headline? It’s inevitable. We’ve seen Kes’ and Higgins’ abs.. Booth needs to complete the AmEx line trend.

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Rating: +27 (from 27 votes)

Brent

March 8, 2012

Agree with you about Rome. I am sure he was looking forward to friends and family in manitoba watching him. AV does play favorites. I am sure no matter how much Gragnani “romes” he will be in the lineup until playoffs start.

so is dale Weise in tonight? I think they should give raymond a rest and dress Weise.

Booth is kind of like the Gilderoy Har Lockhart of Harry Potter fame. Does he have a stack of signed pictures to hand out to all his fans? Actually, that isn’t fair because in contrast to Lockhart, he has skills and talent, he is just good looking.

Is anyone else creeped out by how skinny the woman on the right is? I hope it is just the jersey.

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Rating: +12 (from 12 votes)

hockeyispretty

March 9, 2012

It is just the jersey. That’s a man’s jersey, and the girl at left is in the ladeis’ jersey, shorter and nipped in at the shoulders. It is very difficult for women to look good in those unless… is “well-endowed” still the politically correct way to say it?

Sorry, PITB, but when women say their natural hair colour is blonde, that is code for “medium brown” 99% of the time. (100% for the women in the picture, actually. See roots above for citation.)

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Gabrielle

March 8, 2012

You accidentally wrote “Daniel Doty” instead of “Danielle Doty.”

I love funny typos.

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Chris the Curmudgeon

March 8, 2012

Come on Alain, Tanev should be going in for Gragnani, not Rome.

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Rating: +2 (from 6 votes)

Amor de Cosmos

March 8, 2012

Isn’t it more likely that AV’s looking at all possible combos of Gragnani, Rome, Alberts, Tanev, and Ballard (if fit) in order to come up with a five/six pair for the play-offs? Rome’s had a couple of weeks or more of games, his turn in press box for awhile. I’d expect Alberts to draw back in soon and Gragnani to sit out.

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Rating: +3 (from 3 votes)

Harrison Mooney

March 8, 2012

Yeah. Truth is, AV has a month to figure out who his bottom pairing will be and he doesn’t really have the time to dink around being thoughtful.

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Rating: +10 (from 10 votes)

Brent

March 8, 2012

Where is you picture?

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Harrison Mooney

March 8, 2012

Yow, you’re sharp. Just replacing it with a different one because I have hair now.

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Rating: +8 (from 8 votes)

Brent

March 8, 2012

Had to check the spelling to make sure it was you. Nice hair.

So you also need an alternate picture when you make your “beard stroking” comment. Obviously, you would have to photoshop in a beard but what type ? A big bushy grizzly Adams type, a long bushy goat, or more of a soul patch? Maybe it would be a tweed jacket, pipe smoking university proff kind of a beard (van dyke?). So how do you get a picture attached to comments?

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Chris the Curmudgeon

March 8, 2012

But you don’t look like Kevin Weekes anymore…:(

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Rating: +4 (from 4 votes)

Brian Beitz

March 8, 2012

Still, if you were going to tweak your pairings, wouldn’t you rather do it on Saturday against the lesser opponent?

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Rating: +3 (from 3 votes)

Harrison Mooney

March 8, 2012

If I were going to tweak my pairings, I’d do it in the bathroom with the door locked, long after my wife had fallen asleep. HEYO!

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Rating: +15 (from 15 votes)

Brian Beitz

March 8, 2012

Thanks folks, you’ve been great! Don’t forget to tip your waitress.

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Rating: +3 (from 3 votes)

Chris the Curmudgeon

March 8, 2012

He has yet to look at a combination that didn’t include Gragnani. I am advocating that he do that now.

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Rating: +2 (from 2 votes)

Amor de Cosmos

March 8, 2012

He’s seen most of the combinations that don’t include Gragnani. It makes sense that he’d look at those that do.

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Rating: +7 (from 7 votes)

Slaming

March 8, 2012

Chris the Curmudgeon: Grags won’t be sitting anytime soon, he needs something like 13? games with the team this season or he becomes a UFA at the end of the season. If they get him in for the needed games he’s RFA. With the division all but sown up I’d bet money Gragnani is getting a long long until at least April.

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Rating: +6 (from 6 votes)

Chris the Curmudgeon

March 8, 2012

Well I wasn’t aware of his contract status, however, while the division may be sewn up, the conference most certainly is not, and finishing first would make a difference in later rounds over finishing second. The Canucks aren’t a “chip and a chair” team anymore, they’re a team that expects to make serious hay in the playoffs, and March is not the time for an identity crisis.

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J21

March 8, 2012

Nice to see three Americans showing some Canuck love, when only one of them is on the team!

Unfortunately, this move benches Manitoba native Rome in the first matchup against his hometown team, the Winnipeg Jets. Considering AV explained that Cory Schneider’s start in Boston was in part because he was Massachusetts-born, I’d say this is worth a lip curl. I don’t like it. Rome’s been nothing but accommodating since he arrived in Vancouver and he should have gotten to play tonight.

Not at all the same: the game is in Vancouver, and I highly doubt the Romes flew in for this one, considering they could have flown in for any other Canuck home game just as much. Schneider was getting to start in front of his family for the first time.

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Rating: +7 (from 7 votes)

Harrison Mooney

March 8, 2012

But it’s the Jets! Yeah, it’d be a whole lot worse if this were a road game, that’s for sure. But it’s the Jets!

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Rating: +3 (from 3 votes)

Darren Blakeborough

March 8, 2012

Harrison Mooney eh? That name sounds vaguely familiar. Not sure why but I bet he had some excellent profs in University in order to emerge as such a skilled writer. And witty too. Crazy!

chanman

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